Home team in capital letters; point spreads (opening line) in parentheses after underdog team; selections with point spreads in bold.

THURSDAY NIGHT

PITTSBURGH 17, Tennessee 13 (+7) - Eleven teams are 6-3 are better. But one of these things is not like the others - the Steelers, the only one of the undectet not to score 30 or more points in a game at least once. And add Ben Roethlisberger to the growing chorus of players who would gladly play an 18-game schedule in exchange for giving these Thursday night games the heave-ho.

SUNDAY

N.Y. GIANTS 21 (+11), Kansas City 20 - Fat Boy's mystique over his former division was shattered in God's Country two weeks ago, and the Chiefs have never - repeat, never - beaten the Giants on the road (0-6 straight up and 1-5 against the spread), including a 35-21 loss as an 8 1/2-point favorite in 1992. Plus KC is 17-33 straight up dating all the way back to 1998 as a visitor on the carpet. Super Upset Special - and it's big balloons!

MIAMI 20, Tampa Bay 17 (+1 1/2) - As that song from 40 years ago went, the Miami Dolphins ought to put me in that tank - they've flipped my wallet enough! Still, a walk-off field goal to beat the Jameis Winston-bereft, winless-on-the-road Bucs is hardly too much to ask.

Detroit 17, CHICAGO 10 (+3) - I know it's the Lions in another Triple Witching Hour game - but they do come off back-to-back wins/covers in fatigue games, in which they had been 7-13 both ways prior, plus the Bears just lost to the Brett Hundley Packers, who lost to Detroit at Lambeau the Monday night before. Lions have also won seven of the last eight meetings straight up.

Jacksonville 16, CLEVELAND 13 (+8 1/2) - I wouldn't lay this number on Blake Bortles (especially on the road where he's 5-21 outright as a starter) if he was playing Baylor! And neither should you.

GREEN BAY 17 (+2 1/2), Baltimore 7 - Hundley broke his maiden last week in Chicago, and Team Modell - the Ravens from 1996 to the present, Cleveland 1.0 before that - has not won in Green Bay or Milwaukee since 1956, going 0-7 in America's Dairyland and getting outscored 227-108. One has to start wondering how long of a shelf life that Lombardi Trophy that John Harbaugh won five years ago has when it comes to his job security.

NEW ORLEANS 35, Washington 21 (+8) - Seek and you shall find? Sometimes, sometimes not: The Team That Dares Not Speak Its Name seeks back-to-back wins on artificial turf, but the odds are against that given Washington's 5-13 straight up record since 2013 as a visitor on the carpet, especially with this one being indoors as they're 4-17 outright and 9-12 pointwise since 2009 inside NFL domes. The Saints, on the other hand, will be seeking their first home win in the series since 1992 - and should get it, and cover.

MINNESOTA 31, L.A. Rams 20 (+1 1/2) - The Vikings have beaten the Rams four in a row by a combined 129-56, and with Teddy Bridgewater now breathing down his neck, Case Keenum will be anxious to keep them winning. L.A.'s NFC entrant is also 6-19 straight up and 8-14-3 against the line in this decade on the artificial carpet. Seeding and home field advantage will be crucial in the NFC, especially if the Eagles do hold onto the top seed, because all five of the other playoff teams in the conference will almost certainly be warm-weather or indoor teams.

DENVER 24, Cincinnati 17 (+2 1/2) - Since their Week 5 bye the Broncos are 0-5, have scored 68 points while allowing 165, and put the "1" in the Giants' 1-8 record. But let's stick with a real loser - the Bengals, who are 0-10 in Denver since 1975!

L.A. CHARGERS 34, Buffalo 13 (+3 1/2) - Conceptually, the Chargers are "priced to sell," but the Bills have been historically priced to sell both on natural grass - 35-72 straight up and 45-60-2 against the spread going all the way back to 1995 - and against the Chargers on the road, not having beaten them on the road since 1981 - 0-5 straight up, 1-4 against the spread, outscored 168-65. Buffalo, which has benched Tyrod Taylor in favor of Nathan Peterman, a rookie who was drafted in the fifth round, will be in the market for a new quarterback next spring.

New England 27, Oakland 20 (+5) - Raiders beat the Texans by this score as 5 1/2-point favorites in Mexico City last year, but the Patriots have beaten them four in a row by a combined 52 points and remained undefeated with only one loss against the spread in eight games on grass this season and last combined with their big win in at another high-altitude venue - Denver - last Sunday night (Estadio Azteca Stadium's elevation is approximately 2,000 feet higher than that of Denver's Sports Authority Field).

Philadelphia 33, DALLAS 21 (+3 1/2) - On the power play because Ezekiel Elliott is in the penalty box, the law firm of Pederson & Wentz may be able to win their first case in the court of artificial turf, upon which they were 0-5 both ways in 2016 and playing on it for the first time in 2017 here. The Flyers - oops, I mean the Eagles - skate, they shoot, they win!

MONDAY NIGHT

SEATTLE 27, Atlanta 17 (+3) - Russell Wilson is 42-8 lifetime as a starter at home, and only once in his entire career has he lost back-to-back home games, in 2015. So at this price, it doesn't have to be a blowout for Seattle to be a best bet.

BEST BETS: MINNESOTA, L.A. CHARGERS, SEATTLE

__________________Patriotism is the Achilles heel of the American liberal